little rolls of insanity

These are, of course, pencil rolls from Kathy Mack's pattern in Last Minute Quilted Gifts. They are also the Chistmas gifts that did not get done in time. But they were close, so close! I had all the rainbow sections cut and pieced with plenty of time to spare, but then I ended up trying to finish them on the night before we left town, (I know, that in itself is insanity) but I couldn't find my rotary cutter anywhere. I wasted 45 maddening minutes looking for it, then I had a breakdown and gave up. I still haven't found it and I had to buy a new one. I keep my rotary cutter in one place, and I really only use it in one or two places, seriously, where could it have gone?

Post X-mas, I came back to these with more sanity and the new cutter. They are lovely, and they were well-received. Kathy's pattern and the whole book are great.

Next year, I'm setting a deadline of one week before takeoff for any handmade projects. Better to keep this reasonable. This year I had tried to keep it "casual" and "laid back", but that really just led to last-minute nuttiness.

All right, I only have one more holiday-related post after this, and then I'll stop talking about it. It's over, man!